Box-wrapping machine.



J. P. MARKERT & R. S. 'BOLGER.

BOX WRAPPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED one. 22, 1911.

0% i M 1 s r 9 R e S WM w m mw W 5 w v w J F GE Ff 4/. FE r w w wk m MfiY- m J M 5 F 2 WITNESSES J. P. MARKERT & R. S. BOLGBR.

BOX WRAPPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DBO. 22, 1911.

- Patented Feb. 18, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A ITORNEYS by the claims appended hereto.

UNITED sTA ras PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN P. MARKER/T AND ROBERT S. BOLGER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.; SAID BOLGEB.

ASSIGNOR TO SAID MARKERT.

BOX-WRAPPING MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JUHN P. MAnxeR'r and ROBERT S. Bounce, citizens ofthe United States, residing in the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens,respectively, in the city and State of New York, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Boxrapping Machines, of which the following is a full, clear and exact description.

This invention relates to box covering or wrapping machinery and has forone of its objects the provision of means for increasing the output ofmechanisms of this character.

Another object of the present invention is to insure safety to themachine operator.

A still further object of the invention is to so reduce labor that asingle attendant can operate the complete mechanism and can by its aidcenter the box upon its wrapper and cause the box and wrapper to beautomatically conveyed to the wrapperfolding devices.

These and other objects of our invention will be hereinafter referred toand the novel combination of elements whereby they may be attained Willbe more particularly set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof and in which likereference characters designate like parts throughout the several views,we have exemplified a preferred form of apparatus. We are aware,however, that many modifications and changes in said apparatus may bemade within the purview of our invention and hence desire to be limitedonly In the drawings: Figure 1 is a horizontal section of saidmechanism, the section being taken ..n line I-I of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is avertical, longitudinal section taken on line 11-11 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 isa view similar to Fig. 1, but showing the box shifting mechanism'in itsdelivering position. Fig. -'lis a section taken on line IV-lV of Fig. 3,some of the parts shown in the similar Fig. 2, being omitted.

The box wrapping mechanism herein shown comprises a frame 1, upon whichare mounted various elements of the mechanism. VVithir this frame aretwo opposed plungers, preferably movable vertically, the lower of saidplunger-s being designated 2 and constituting a table or support for theSpecification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 22, 1911.

Patented Feb. 18, 1913. Serial No. 667,873.

box when the wrapper is being applied thereto. The upper plunger ispreferably a wooden block 3 adapted to enter the box and clamp thebottom thereof against the plunger 2. These plungers may both bepositively actuated, if desired, the lower plunger 2 heingmounted upon areciprocable standard or shaft 4 which rides in a guide 5 and isreciprocated therein by means of a bell-lever G keyed to a rock shaft.7; the longer arm of the said bell-lever being connected to a projectionS of the standard 4 The short arm of the bell-lever is connected bymeans of a link 10 to a lever 11 which is pivoted to a bracket 12 whichextends forwardly from the frame 1.

It may here be noted that the front end of the machine has been disposedat the left hand side of the sheets in the drawing.

- The upper extremity of the lever 11 carries a roller 13 which rides inthe cam-slot 14 of a cylinder 15. This latter element is mounted upon ashaft 16 which is driven in any suitable manner as by means of a spiralgear 17 which is adapted for engagement with a similar gear 18 mountedon a transverse shaft 19, driven by a pulley 20.

The upper plunger 3 depends from a reciprorable shaft 21 which rides ina suitable bearing carried by the bridge 92 of the frame '1. The upperextremity of shaft 21 may be linked by means of a connection 23 to a bar.34 which extends downwardly through a lateral extension 25 of thebridge 22. The lower extremity of bar 24 is connected by means of a link26 to bell-lever 27 which is pivoted to the extremity of the bracket 12above referred to, as at 28. The short and preferably upwardly directedarm of the bell-lever 27 carries a roller 2.) which rides in a cam-slot30 in a cylinder 31. (Tylinder 31 may be disposed immediately adjacentcylinder 15'): both of these cam cylinders being mounted upon the shaft16. The respective cams are so shaped that upon the upward stroke of theplungers actuated thereby, the pressure block or upper plunger 3 movesupvardly, at least during some portion of its stroke, faster than thelower plunger or table 2. thereby separating the said plungers to admitof the reception of the box and its wrapper therebetween. iV hen thephmgers descend, the cams are so configured that the upper plungerdescends by means of a link 9.

into the box and firmly presses it against the table plunger, therebyclamping the box against displacement and carrying it down-- wardlytogetherwith its wrapper between 5 the folding rolls 32, and otherparts, some of which have not herein been shown since they per .56, formno part of the present invention. J I p Theframes 1 and brackets 35,which project out toward the front of the machine -therefrom', supporta. table 36 and upon either sideof, the machine and also supportedbysaid brackets and the bridge 22,

above referred to, are guide rods 37 Slidably mounted on these guiderods are the traveling frames 38 whic are connected together-bymeans" oftwo cross rods 39. Con

nected to these' crossrods by means of brackets 40-40 are a seriesofrails or sup- 'o porting bars for the labels or wrappers to be handledby the machine. These support bars have been design adjustable along thelength of the cross rods so as to accommodate wrappers or labels of'g'wa'rious widths.

They may be clamped in osition upon'the cross rods by means of olts 42.The traveling frame is connected as at 43 to chains ,44; one of which isdisposed upon either side of the machine. At

0 the forward end of the machine these chains pass over idler sprockets45- and at the rear end over-sprocket wheels 46. These wheels arefixedly mounted upon a shaft 47, which is journaled'in' brackets 48,secured to the. at?

rear end of. the frames 1, and this shaft is which is .in'mesh with agear segment 50,

pivotally connected. at 51 to a bracket 52, which latter is also securedto the 'rearend 4o' 'of one of th'frames.'-.

caused to rock means of a'cam 52 inount ed upon the. rearextremity.ofth'e shaft 16 .above referred to. The cam slot in the cam '5cylinder 52 has been. designated 53 andiis adaptedfor; the reception. ofa roller 54 which is mounted. upon the outer side of the arm of 'arsegment, as-shown in Fig. 4..

It is'evi ent' therefore that rotation of shaft ment andthereby causeshaft 47 torock.

- As. this shaft carries the sprocket wheels 46, the chains 44 will"bepulled around firstin one, direction and then, in the other; and as.

55 the traveling framesf38 are connected to these';chains, theyalso willbecaused to re-' ciprocate toward and from theplungers. 1

The brackets 409440, flcarr gages for centering-the'boxand.itsilabe forwrapper so eo 'thatthey' may be moved'by'the traveling frame directlyinto position upon the lower plunger. To. this end we may provide boxgages 55 which are connected the inner pair of brackets, 40, and a labelor wrapper gage 56 which may be connected to one of ated 41 -41 and aredriven by means of a pinion 49 thereon The gear segjment mount dtnistud'51 is.

16 will effect an oscillation of the gear segthe oiiter bars 41. These"ages areprefit erably resilient, especiallyt osewhich are I adapted toengage the box; which latter,

' designated 55, are secured to their respective support ng brackets bymeans of bolts 57 and may have the bodiesthereof slotted as at 58 forengagement with a screw 59 which secures the front label gages 6Oadjustably thereto The gage 56 is also preferablymade adjustablelengthwise of the adjacent bar 41.

The operation of the mechanism is'as follows: Assuming that thetraveling frame is disposed as shown in Fig. '1 and that it be desiredto cover loose-wrap boxes, the op-' orator stations himself at the frontof the machine adjacent the outermost positionof the travelingfraine andplaces a wrapper or label 61 upon the supporting bars 41, 41

accurately positioning the wrapper by means 5 of the sidegage 56 andrear gages60. He"

then places a box 62 upon the' wrap er, ceni te'ring it accuratel withrespect to t e plun gers by means of the box gages 55. The" travelingframe is then caused to traverse the Y guide rods 37 throughs theinstrumentality of the chains 44 in the manner above described, andduring a portion of one rotation of the cam 52 and also, of course, ofthe' shaft 16, the traveling frame will advance from the position inwhich it is shown in Fig. 1 'to that in which it is shown in Fig. 3,thereby placing the wrapper and box directly in position upon the lowerplunger.

The continued rotation ofshaft 16 causes 66 erations which may beperformedin apply- 0 ing the, wrapper to the .box after the wrapper hasbeen folded over against the side' I walls of'the box by being passedthrough the wipingrolls It is important to note, however, that beforethe plunger descendsv with the box andits Wrapper, the smooth supportbarsl41, 41f are withdrawn from b eneaththe wrapper by means of thetraveL ing frame and its operating mechanism' Sincethegagesareall inengagement with 126- those portlons of the box and its wrapperwhich arenearestto the'operator, or to the front of the machine, there is noth-into hinder their beinggdraw'n freely away rom the box andwi'a'p er whenthese havebeeir I clamped between t e plungersj in the manner,described. pItis'essential, however, that this l clamping or grippingaction should have occurred before the withdrawal of the supportingbars, since otherwise the wrapper 130 would probably be displaced withrespect to the box, unless some equivalent wrapper holding means heprovided. The wrapped box is preferably fed downwardly through lowed todwell for some time at the front T end, of the machine, affording theoperator sufficient time to place the next wrapper or label and box uponthe support bars carried thereby. This turn conveyed toward the ox andits wrapper are in plungers in the manner already described, completingthe cycle of operation.

If it be desired to cover tight-Wrap boxes,

- the adhesive initially applied to the wrapper or to the box by theoperator, or by a gumming machine,'will hold' the box and wrappertogether, so that the gages 56. and

60 maybe dispensed with, if desired. [In operating upon either tight orloose wrap boxes however, it will be observed that the box anditswrapper are disposed in juxtaposition" ata point readily accessible tothe I" machine operator and are conveyed together to a pointsubstantially in alinement with the plungers. It is desirable also thatthe support bars should be withdrawn before the plu'ngers descend, toavoid complication of the mechanism. I

Finally we desire to call'attention to the fact that it is by no meansessential that V both of the plungers or even one of them, be

made movable but in general may state that it is necessary that someform of coverin blank (or strip) folding means be provide as well assome means, preferably clamping in character, for holding the blank andbox together while subject to the action of said folding means; that oneof these said means be movable with respect to the other in a determinedline or path; and that some form of movable support be provided 'fortransferring the coverin blank to a point in said line or path. It isurther, practically essential that the support should move toward theaforesaid movable means in timed relationshi to -said means.

Having described our invention, we claim:

1. A box covering machine comprising -mechanism for applying coveringmaterial to side walls of a box, said mechanism ineluding a plurality ofcooperating plungers,

adapted to clamp said covering material against the box, and means foractuating said plungers, a movable support provided with devices forholding the covering material and box in fixed relation to each other,said support ada ted to transfer the covering material and ox from apoint accessible to the machine operator to a point substantially inalinement with said plungers, and

'fvidedwith devices for .holdin movemechanism for moving said supporttoward T against the box, andmeans for actuating said plungers, areciprocable support prothe cover? material and box in fixed re ation toeac 9ther,,.sa id support adapted to transfer the covering material andbox from a point accessible to the machine operator to a pointsubstantially in alinementwithsaid plun f gers,'and mechanismv forreciprocating said support toward and from sa d plungers plungers.

' 3. A box *covering machine comprisin mechanism for applying coveringmateria to side walls of a box, said mechanism comprising coveringmaterial folding means and clampmg means for holding said material andbox together while in-engagement with, said folding means, one of saidmeans being movable with respect to the other in a determined line, amovable support provided with, devices for holdin the covering materialand box in fixed re ation to each other, said support adapted totransfer the covering blank and box from a point accessible to themachine operator to a point'substantially in said determined line, andmechanism for moving said support toward said movable means in timedrelationship to the move ments of the latter.

timed relationship to movements of; said 4. Abox covering machinecomprisin mechanism for applying covering materia to side walls of abox, said mechanism com- .prising covering material folding means,

and means for holding said material and box together while in engagementwith said folding means, one of said meansbeing movable with respect tothe other in a deter-51.

cap

mined line, a movable support provided); with devices for holding thecovering mate-.

rial and box in fixed relation to each other, said support adapted totransfer the covering material and box from a point accessible to themachine operator to a point substantially in said determined line, andmechanism for moving said support toward said movable means 1n timedrelationship to the movements of the latter.

5. A box covering machine comprising mechanism for applying a coveringblank to side walls of a box, said mechanism comprising coverin blankfolding means, and means for holding said blank and box together whilein engagement with said blank folding means, one of said means beingmovable with respect to the other in a determined line, a movablesupport fortransferring the covering blank and box from a I In witnesswhereof, we subscribe our sig- 1: point accessible to the machineoperator to natures in the presence of two witnesses.

at point substantially in said determined line, said support comprisinga plurality of i JOHN P. MARKERT. supporting elements for the coveringblank ROBERT S. BOLGER.

and box adjustable laterally with respect to each other, and mechanismfor moving said Witnesses support toward said movable means in timed IWALDO M. CHAPIN, relationship to the movements of the latter. 1

JAMES D. ANTONIO.

